WHEN YOU FIND OUT YOUR GUEST IS A VEGAN!!!

Okay, I think that this one was actually my fault...

For those of you who do not know, a steemian who is both French and Canadian has come all the way down to Arkansas to hang out for the weekend. After spending some time over the past months interacting on steemit, @vcelier decided to come visit the @papa-pepper tribe with one of his grandchildren, @naru-celier.

Life can be rather face-paced at times, and after returning earlier this week from a nine day trip to Texas and Mexico, we were already going to be having guests this weekend. Not only were our guests from out of town, they were from out of the country!

LATE LAST NIGHT...

Late last night, they rolled into town. The phone call was displayed as "UNKNOWN" on my cell phone. This was an international call!

@Vcelier and @naru-celier had arrived at their motel, roughly 15 minutes away. I think that it was already past 9 pm, so it was too late to have them out for a visit, especially after a very long day of travel, but @papa-pepper loaded up Pinkie-Pepper and Monster Truck the Pepper for a ride. Soon, we were at the motel.

Armed with a few STEEMIT.COM bracelets that I had picked up in Mexico, we parked and approached the building. Outside, with his camera ready in typical steemian style, @vcelier greeted us while he snapped a shot. We discussed a few things about our lives, steemit, and the upcoming weekend. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, @naru-celier asked, "Did you know that my Grandpa is vegan?" I looked at my friend on the couch next to me and replied, "No, I did not know that."

@Vcelier replied, "He must have missed the last sentence of my last email."

"WHAT?!?"

"Vegan?" I thought. How could I have missed that? @Mama-pepper and I had planned to have some chicken drumsticks on the grill at some point over the weekend with our guests... Time for Plan B I guess, but what was Plan B?

Later I looked back over the last email that I had received from @vcelier. Sure enough, there was the last sentence.

One thing I forgot to tell you: I am vegan. Nathaneil is not.

Hmmm... @papa-pepper can often get distracted and miss things, but i should have seen this. Upon reflecting on the issue, I think I realize what happened.

The previous day, @vcelier had mentioned being in "Harrison Hot Springs." I was blown away and caught off guard by what I had read. First off, this was one day earlier than I had expected our visitors. Something seemed off though. Both "Harrison" and "Hot Springs" are cities in Arkansas, but neither should have been on their way. Additionally, they are two separate cities over 180 miles away by vehicle, which is almost 3 1/2 hours away from one another (if you drive the suggested speed limit). Something was up.

Right before he tried to tell me that he was vegan, he had stated the following:

No, we are in Harrison Hot Springs in British Columbia.

I think that I was relieved and distracted by "solving" this issue that I missed (or forgot) the next sentence. Amazingly, there is a place called "Harrison Hot Springs" up in BC. What are the odds? Soooo... on to Plan B.

PLAN B

When we me up the next morning, we opted for stopping at a diner for breakfast. One meal done! After breakfast, @vcelier and @naru-celier came over for a tour of our land and a chance to meet some Guinea Fowl, Scorpions, a Black Rat Snake and other animals. After hanging out and talking for a while, it was time for lunch. What was going to be the "solution" to provide a vegan lunch option?

To the garden! Yes! There are many edible things out there that fit in perfectly with a vegan diet. Soon, @papa-pepper and @vcelier were up to our necks in my "garden." Yes, up to our necks and there is a reason for the quotation marks around "garden." Click here for more about that.

PAPA'S PICKS

Amaranth Leaves

Red Chinese Noodle Beans

Green Beans

Peppers -after all I am @papa-pepper

Kale

ADDING IN SOME WILD!

As a wild-man, I also like foraging. @vcelier proved to be quite a wild-man too, so I thought that he might like some wild vegan weeds with his lunch too. Thankfully, a few of these weeds were even conveniently growing in my crazy, overgrown, wild mess of a "garden." Here's what we foraged up quickly to add to the Plan B lunch.

Lamb's Quarters

Common Yellow Wood Sorrel

Wild Garlic

HERE COMES THE PLAN B, VEGAN LUNCH

After gathering our goods, we went to where I was going to cook it up. I got to rinsing and chopping up the edibles.

We heated up some oil instead of butter and @vcelier got to stirring our stir fry. One thing that I really appreciate about this man is that he gets in on the action and likes to help out too. Whether it is capturing wild snakes or cooking a meal... a vegan meal that is, @vcelier is right there doing his part, or just helping you do yours.

Since leafier foods like Kale and our foraged "weeds" tend to condense when heated, we added things to the stir fry in stages so that we could fit more in the skillet. I kept chopping and @vcelier kept stirring.

With the amount of stirring that he was doing I knew that this was totally going to be an excellent stir fry. We finished it off with a little salt, pepper, and some Bragg's Liquid Aminos and it was ready!

DINNER IS SERVED!... oops I MEAN VEGAN LUNCH IS SERVED!

Honestly, I write this in a half-jest type style. I know many people with many different diets and have no issues with any of them. Heck, @xtrodinarypilot even eats Hornet Larvae now and he used to be a vegetarian!

I believe that accommodating your guests and catering to their preferences is appropriate. Remember, if you are not a good host, you'll lose your parasites. (Another joke, I hope that you get it.)

Back to something that is not a joke. This incredible steemian @vcelier just traveled across a large portion of North America just to hang out with my family. This is part of the amazing, strange reality that we find within the steemit community. Strangers from around the world sharing interests and friendships to the point online that they even make the effort to meet face to face. Between STEEMfest, the steemit meetups, and these "one on one" visits, steemit is having an incredible effect on this world that we live in.

Hopefully this post has helped curb any "fears" you may have had about varying dietary restrictions or preferences. A few of those at our lunch may have added some cheese to the dish, but let me tell you, this was one tasty and nutritious lunch! For almost nothing other than a little effort we quickly pulled together a delicious meal that everyone could enjoy, and we had some great fun doing it together.

The times, meals, and experiences that we share are what make up our lives, and these are some pretty precious times for us. Enjoy your weekends friends. Sure, it could be your last, but even if it isn't, why not live it to your fullest and put forth some effort to not only enjoy yourselves, but to bless others as well! I'm off to bed, but tomorrow, I awake to adventure with my friends!

Both @vcelier and @naru-celier should be sharing about their time here too, so keep an eye on them. It has been very interesting and enjoyable so far!